Manuski means humanism in Marathi. A term used by Dr B.R.Ambedkar, a great humanist of India. This blog want stimulating debate without any prejudices of caste, religion and nationalism. It is about humanism and human rights. All freethinkers are welcome to contribute and participate in stimulating debates.

Saturday, March 02, 2013

Understanding 'Dalit Priest Project' of Narendra Modi in Gujarat

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

The
Dalit priest theory of Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi is an aim to
deflect the attention from the real issues of the Balmiki community which is
isolated and face severe untouchability. Modi has rarely spoken against caste
discrimination and the historical injustice done to Dalits hence it is nothing
but plain hypocrisy to grab positive headlines.

Much has been written
about shining Gujarat in the media and now it is time to unleash social ‘revolution’
hence the ‘Hindu Hriday Samrat’ is on his mission to ‘train’ the dalits for
performing ‘rituals’ like marriage, birth ceremony or in temples. His
government has kept an amount of Rs 22.50 lakh for this purpose so that people
particularly from the Valmiki community could be provided ‘knowledge’ of
‘Sanskrit’ so that they can do it independently. These students would be
trained in performing rituals at two universities including Somnath Sanskrit
Vidyapeeth. In the period of millions, a tiny sum kept for ‘social revolution’
shows the real intents of those behind it and how serious they are in their
efforts. Is this effort aimed at bringing equality in the society or is it
aimed to further co-opt the Balmikis or manual scavengers into the broader Hindu
fold?

The step taken by
Narendra Modi and his government are being projected by his ‘chums’ as
‘revolutionary’ and reformists. Some say, he is an OBC and hence it is a great
effort to bring all the Dalits and OBCs into the Hindu fold with great respect
and dignity. Addressing a meeting of Valmikis Narendra Modi actually termed
them as the ‘priests’ of ‘our cities’. You keep our cities clean and hence you
are no less than priests. Sound good words and Modi who is being touted as
‘future’ ‘prime minister’ of India is now on a ‘social reform’ mission. He did
it with aadivasis with organizing ‘Sabari mela’ and now with this ‘Dalit
priest’ theory he is again trying to coopt them into the Hindu fold and subside
their anger against the government for its abject failure for addressing the
issue of the Dalits particularly manual scavengers in Gujarat.

Since 1992, Gujarat
government has declared that manual scavenging is absolutely abolished in the
state. Ofcourse, caste system and untouchability are closely link and none can
claim that Gujarat does not have a caste system or untouchability does not
exist in Gujrat whether it is owned by Modi or Gandhi. In the din of Hindu
Muslim affair, Gujarat successfully hid the dirtiest realities existing in its
cities and towns. It was quietly forgotten that Gujarat’s caste society is
still powerful and has successfully stalled the march for change among the
Dalits and OBCs as whenever there are assertion for their rights and dignity
among them, the caste Hindus even use all tactics including economic blockade
of those people. The fact is that Modi’s Gujrat is only for the upper caste
Hindus who have deep contempt for the Dalits, aadivasis and backward
communities, apart from Muslims.

Questions
may be posed to Modi and his government on the status of manual scavenging in
Gujarat which he and his predecessors have denied having any presence. The fact
is that there are numerous reports, videos, photographs that the dirty practice
can be seen in Ahmedabad itself. It is shameful that people are still cleaning
human excreta by hand and that in a state which claims to be a model state and
whose chief minister is looking himself as the future prime minister of India.
No problem in his thinking to be the prime minister of India but why does he
want us to believe that Gujarat is a different state then rest of us. Yes, it
is different because the forces of social change are not active and aggressive
in Gujarat and have tamely succumbed to religious-capitalist upper caste groups
in the state.

According to census
2011, Gujarat has over 2,500 households where manual scavenging is practiced.
The number amuses me as it reflect a fact that Gujarat government does not have
money to develop flushed toilets in these 2500 houses if that is the only case.
The reality is more frightening actually. The same census survey reveals that
out of 1.2 crore households in Gujarat, over 64 lakh do not have drainage
facility. Actually, 52 lakh homes have no toilets at all and therefore they
must either be defecating in open or using the public toilets. It is found that
over 49 lakh people actually defecate in open in Gujarat which shows the
standard of shining Gujarat. There are
only 2 lakh public toilets in that state which is planning to give Indian
‘alternative’.

These
data are easily countered by social activists and research institutions which
have done their own surveys even when we can easily say that too have leakages
and unsubstantiated figure like national average yet according to Tata Institute
of Social Sciences study there are over 12,506 manual scavengers in Gujarat.
According to a report published in the Indian Express, it says,’ study says a total of 2,456 households with
12,506 individuals in Gujarat are involved in manual scavenging. Of this, 4,333
(2,755 males, 1,578 females) persons are directly involved in the practice, the
rest being children, women, old, unemployed and others. Region wise, Saurashtra
leads with 928 households, followed by central Gujarat (569), north Gujarat (529),
and south Gujarat (430). Over 50 per cent are involved in removing open
defecation, mostly with bare hands’. The fact is that this study was conducted only in municipal
corporation areas of over ten thousand population and therefore has left a huge
number of smaller towns, villages which are outside the ambit of municipalities
and where caste discrimination and untouchability are equally prevalent along
with manual scavenging.

While we must appreciate the study, the fact is that Gujarat is a deeply
hierarchical society and caste prejudices prevail in that society. The Dalits
face more marginalization and even not allowed in the temple. Though, people
like us believe that temple entry movements are not really to help the Dalits
but to keep them subjugated under the brahmanical system and somehow stamp the
ugly reality of caste prejudices.

Gujarat claim to have no dearth of money and
Gujarat is shining economically then why such a huge number of Gujaratis are
still defecating in open. Is not it a shame but the hidden reality behind this
open defecation is the economic status of those who defecate in open. Yes, it
is the state with very high number of children suffering from malnutrition and
the chief minister mentioned that the girl eat less to look slim. The question is why has Gujarat government
failed to eradicate manual scavenging in the state and where is the issue of
caste discrimination and untouchability in the Hindutva scheme of things. If it
is a model state of Hindutva then how do Balmikis and other dalits live in Gujarat?
During a study on Indira Awas Yojna, several years back, I found, how the
Balmikis were never really given houses along with other communities. In fact,
to save the communities from mixing up, Modi and his protégé actually developed
a Balmiki Awas Yojna and houses under this scheme were absolutely isolated and
at the last point of a village. Can a Balmiki be allowed to enter in the house
of a Patel or any Brahmin in Gujarat? Does Gujarat not have honor killings in
the name of castes? Are all the temples open for Dalits?

The question is why does Modi want the Balmikis
or Dalits to study Sanskrit? How many of Gujarati Brahmins are studying
Sanskrit. Why not open a school for them. Modi want to the Balmikis to perform
in the temples. A good idea would be to hand over the temples and their
managements of temples such as Somnath, Ambaji and Akshar Dham to the Balmikis
so that they have enough income to run their families and favor others. Dalits
and any other community today need modern education, access to good
universities and availability of jobs in the government as well as private
sectors. It would be a great achievement if Modi’s enterprenual Gujarat can
stop the caste discrimination within the campuses of Universities and colleges,
in companies and factories?

These are desperate attempt to hide the real
issues of untouchability and caste system. The caste forces will work over time
to hide these realities and hence chose soft target. They know it well that
even if Balmikis or Dalits become priests, it is not going to open ‘inter
caste’ marriages for them or marriages ceremonies in general for them. Most of
them will be confined to their own community and the other way round help the
Brahmins who refuses to go there to perform these rituals. As far as temples
are concern, there are hundreds of temples where nobody comes and the priests
suffer as the powerful temples will always be in the hands of caste Hindus.
Basically, Narendra Modi is trying to halt the march of dignity of Dalits
through these cunning methods so that people do not question the historical
injustice done to them. If
he is concerned about Balmikis, has he ever spoken about the untouchability and
caste discrimination that is the order of day in Gujarat?

The temple entry movement and putting people back
to religious rituals are nothing but deeply flawed and cunning move by the
power elite to hide the ugly reality which they have played and their inability
to condemn the gross violation of human rights of Dalits through such practices. A few days back, another ‘revolutionary’ took
the Balmiki women to Kumbha for a bathing in the Ganges. It was claimed that
after bathing in the Ganga, they have challenged the status quo. The same
champions did not bother to see the gross violation of basic dignity and human
rights of over seven thousands Safai karmcharis during Kumbha fair. The issue of untouchability and caste
discrimination cannot be solved by these juggleries and treacherous ways
without questioning the authority of varnashram dharma and its divisive
philosophy which is anti-human and anti-human rights.

Those who want to install the caste-ist vaidik
values on us cannot really have love and respect for human rights and that way
Gujarat government’s Dalit priest project is nothing but anti Dalit and full of
hypocrisy as it want to keep them in the Hindu fold without demolishing the
caste hierarchies and caste system. Is it possible to have an equality based
human society without the demolition of caste system? Does Modi want to
demolish caste system or he want to keep it further to perpetuate his agenda on
everyone. Will he ever apologize to Balmikis and other dalits for years of
discrimination and untouchability which has divine sanction as he claim to
represent the saffron brigade and the ideology of Hindutva?

2 comments:

Thank you for writing and informing about this less acknowledged issue which no one from around the political spectrum wants to touch upon. I would also like to share my research about how the Bilderberg and Mossad created APCO Worldwide and it's sister concern ASERO Worldwide with it's puppet Narendra Modi has created a base in Gujarat and how it affects Indian politics and puts India's security and resources in jeopardy.

This is a very good article, but with lot of anti-Modi bias. First of all not sure why Modi is to be blamed for the caste system and other evils of the society.The critique should have given more figures before Modi and after Modi. As I figured it out the Balmik priests is one of the initiatives and a very good initiative. Call it caste or a clan system in India. It can never go, but we can atleast ensure that we can talk about all castes as equal and caste-intermarriage as a reality. Isn't this the same what Christian missionaries do with other religion ppl. At least here he is making them equal in term of culture and religion. I think this will go a long way in making the society homogenous. Not to forget there are other adivasis, dalit programs that are going on.

Read this and remember millenium old things take decades to gohttp://www.thehindu.com/news/national/social-boycott-made-dalits-in-77-gujarat-villages-migrate/article3423130.ece

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About Me

Learning through working. Working at the grassroots made me realise the big difference between those who claim to represent communities as well as the communities themselves. Common man is crushed between the ambitions of various individuals to lead and dominate. The dominant and high numbered communities will always dominate our discourse and the most marginalised are losing in this entire discourse. That is the reason why Mushahar remain at the marginalised and the issue of manual scavenging still not on our top agenda and to eliminate that the community has to decide its own organisations..

I am devoted to freedom of ideas and expression. I personally feel that we in the subcontinent want to dominate and control our discourse and each one of is a ultra nationalist in terms of their caste and community. Nationalism is not just national and political but it is equally in term of religion and caste. I feel each kind of nationalism is a dominant discourse which deny the dissenter a right to speak.

At the end, we all want to listen the truth suitable to us.. we have become expertised in the art of speaking truth of convenience. As long as that remain hall mark of our society and we speak to already converts, this society will remain stagnant, it will always try to control our ideas and choices. We need to oppose any such perception, ideas that want to control our mind and victimise us.

To understand India further, I feel, it is good to do foot walk, ( Padyatras) to various parts of the country. I have so far done it thrice covering nearly 1500-2000 kilometers. It is always interesting to see how people are coping their issues and what is the reason of their exploitation.